Food & Agriculture
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Congresswoman Pingree has introduced comprehensive legislation to build on the success of local and regional food economies by helping farmers tap into growing markets and helping consumers access healthy food. Learn more about HR 3941, the Local FARMS Act here.
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is a national leader on food policy, including issues involving local food, food waste, and organic agriculture. She currently serves on the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees federal funding for the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.
As Congress prepares to work on the next Farm Bill, Congresswoman Pingree is introducing legislation to support local and regional food systems, increase funding for organic research, standardize food date labels, and reduce food waste across the food chain.
During the last Farm Bill, Congresswoman Pingree served on the House Agriculture Committee. After years of work, the President signed a 2014 Farm Bill containing many of the reforms proposed in her Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act. These reforms take important steps to support local farmers, invest in regional food systems, and give all consumers better access to nutritious food that benefits the local economy.
Among others, her victories include:
- Making it easier to use SNAP benefits to purchase local food
- More funding to promote farmers markets and farm stand, assist farmers seeking organic certification, and make local value-added products.
- Reforming federal insurance programs that work better to protect organic and diversified farms
But there is more work to be done to turn the nation's food policy right side up. Visit here for updates on her work to make our food system work better for the environment, people, and the economy.
More on Food & Agriculture
Seven Maine organizations are receiving over $700,000 in federal investments to promote the local food economy thanks to funding Congresswoman Chellie Pingree was able to insert in the Farm Bill that passed Congress in2014.
Representatives Chellie Pingree (D–ME) and Thomas Massie (R–KY), and a bipartisan coalition of 16 other lawmakers have reintroduced legislation to improve consumer food choices and to protect local farmers from federal interference. The two bills–the Milk Freedom of Act of 2015 (H.R. 3563) and the Interstate Milk Freedom Act of 2015 (H.R. 3564)–are the newest in a series of "food and farm freedom" initiatives the two have championed this year, following the Industrial Hemp Act of 2015 (H.R. 525) and the PRIME Act (H.R. 3187).
Yesterday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new food safety rules that primarily impact food manufacturers. A separate set of rules that will have a bigger impact on farms is due out next month. These rules are part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree introduced a bipartisan bill today to help schools in Maine and around the country modernize and expand their kitchens. The bill would provide funding for schools that want to buy kitchen equipment and provide training on how to cook fresh meals from scratch. A national survey found that 88 percent of school districts need at least one piece of new kitchen equipment and 55 percent require infrastructure changes.
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree scored some significant wins for sustainable agriculture policy in a spending bill that won preliminary approval in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture yesterday. The bill, which funds the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, contains funding levels and other provisions that Pingree had pushed for. She is a member of the Appropriations Committee and sits on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, which approved the spending bill yesterday.